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Baseline Measurements of Ambient Concentrations of Elemental, Reactive Gaseous and Particle-Bound Mercury at Two Urban Locations in New York

Dirk Felton^*, Matthew Hirsch and Kevin Civerolo
New York State DEC
Division of Air Resources
625 Broadway
Albany, NY 12233

Since late August 2008, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has been monitoring ambient levels of elemental mercury (Hg⁰), reactive gaseous mercury (RGM), and particle-bound mercury (PBM) in Rochester and New York City using full speciation Tekran systems. These data will eventually be included in the MDN mercury initiative, a national collaborative effort to investigate spatial and temporal trends in ambient concentrations and deposition of mercury. Here we present preliminary findings of this monitoring effort, including diurnal and seasonal variations, analysis of co-pollutants such as O₃ and SO₂, and lessons learned. The Rochester site is collocated with a Tekran unit operated by Clarkson University, and results from this collocation effort are also presented. We also examine several high pollution episodes and high RGM events over this period, using wind roses and back trajectory analysis.

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